Findings and decisions
by splitmaus
Summary: Destiny reaches the next galaxy and Young and Rush wake from stasis, but something is wrong. Eli's pod is empty and the clock reading of the ship just can't be right...
1. The lost star 1 of 3

This is the translation of my German SGU fanfiction. If you're able to read German I suggest you read the original.

My heartfelt thanks go to Master Of All Imagination who made this readable. You did an amazing job. All mistakes left are my fault ^_^

When Colonel Everett Young opened his eyes, he didn't feel rested at all. He and Camille had been joking that three years in stasis would be more than enough rest. But the stasis pod had obviously not only frozen his bodily functions but also his exhaustion. It felt like he had just said goodbye to Rush and Eli.

With a deep breath he shook off a slight feeling of confusion, caused by his awakening from the stasis, and stepped out of the small chamber. It was silent around him and only the stasis pod and the emergency light offered dim illumination.

Were they already there?

Why was he the only one awake?

Shouldn't the ship have powered up everything before they woke?

There had been a specified order for the waking.

After all, Eli had programmed…

Eli!

Young's heart stumbled and then beat faster as he remembered the young man, who had been so convinced of his own skills that he had taken the place in the last pod. Knowing that failure would mean his death.

Had he made it?

With a dull feeling in his stomach Young went to the remaining pod – to the one that Eli should be in.

To the pod that was empty and open when he finally stood before it.

Had Eli woken first? But then he would have greeted Young with his typical smirk and one of his remarks. He would run around energetically and list everything that should be done. And he would be happy that they made it, that he had been right and saved them all.

Searchingly, Young's gaze swept over the inside of the pod, as if Eli could hide in there somewhere, but the only thing he could see in the weak illumination of the emergency light was small crystals on the outside, which looked like they had burned out.

Burned out and useless.

"No! Damn it!"

With an outraged, helpless cry, Young hit the frame of the dead stasis pod, hardly feeling the pain. He never should have allowed Eli to be left behind. That hadn't been his job. He should have waited, should have been the one who stayed out at the end. But he had let himself been convinced by Eli's determination and he hadn't wanted to die if there was this small hope.

Young breathed shakily in, out, and in again, even if it was hard. As he tried to calm down he finally noticed the kino sitting on the floor in front of him.

He lifted the small sphere and went to the stasis pod Rush occupied. The man was still standing there, with straight back and uplifted head, as though it had been only a few moments ago when they had turned it on. A few moments which in reality were years. The brown hair swept from his forehead and cheeks and chin covered by a stubby beard, already gray in some places. Destiny had made all of them older and the tension, which Rush had exuded continuously, was even there in this situation.

On the glass surface of the chamber he could also see his own faint reflection. His black hair was still too long, wildly curled and far from a military cut. His black BDU was worn from the time on Destiny and he was so tired that the only thing he wanted was a bed.

Young breathed in deeply again to concentrate and was reminded be the heavy, cold air that Destiny awoke only slowly. But it wasn't icy, so life support must have been started some time before his wakening. He had no idea what else was working and what would happen next, aside from the ship hopefully heading into a star, if they actually had reached their destination.

It couldn't be helped. He needed Rush, and thus he ended the cryo sleep of the scientist exactly like Eli had showed him. A small hissing sound, then the light went on in the pod and the fogged glass cleared. A few moments later it opened and Rush opened his eyes. No blinking, no staggering. He just stood there motionless and seemed to gather himself.

"We still live." Possibly it should have been only a cool statement, but Young could hear the surprise and relief in those words. He also didn't miss the slightly amused twitch in the corner of his mouth.

He only nodded slightly, while Rush stepped out of the pod and took a look around. "We are the first, I assume? Good. I have to go into the interface control room and find out our current situation. The others will have to wait." During his monologue Rush had walked to the damaged stasis pod and now watched it suspiciously. "Where is Eli?"

As an answer, Young held up the kino. „He wasn't there. Only this. I have to..." Young cleared his throat before going on. "I want to watch this first, before we continue and wake all the others."

Rush nodded slowly, his face a neutral mask. "Status check first, then the recording."

The way to the control room seemed like an eternity to Young. When they finally reached it, lit by the emergency light, Rush started working immediately while Young took a puzzled look around. Under the consoles lay blankets, a mattress, and other assorted scattered items. Amongst them were medicine and bandages, obviously from TJ's inventory. There was a spacesuit in the corner, too. It seemed like Eli had spend most of his time in here. The room was total chaos. Young swallowed questions concerning the matter that Rush wouldn't be able to answer anyway, and watched him instead making entries on one of the consoles.

"How is it?" Young wanted to know impatiently when Rush didn't say anything.

"At first glance, good," came the hesitant answer finally. "All systems operational. Life support, engines… We are headed directly into a star and we should reach it in about four hours. But…"

"But what?"

"This clock readout can't be right. And the energy level is strange, too. But we are definitely at the edge of the next galaxy."

"What about the clock readout?" Young wanted to know immediately.

"It's been just 27 months, only two third of the estimated time. And energy isn't nearly as spend as calculated. Honestly colonel, these readings don't make any sense." Rush looked openly at him and Young didn't know if Rush's obvious confusion should trouble him or not.

"Maybe there is an answer in here." He gave the kino to the scientist, who took it wordlessly and downloaded the data.

Young stood beside him silently while the monitor flickered, and then Eli's happy face appeared. He seemed tired but enthusiastic. Exactly like Young had seen him last.

/ „Day 1. Rush and Young went into stasis about an hour ago. Destiny is completely silent and it's almost creepy, being all alone here." Eli took a short look to the left and right and leant conspiratorial closer until his slightly rounded face took all of the monitor. "And any moment now nasty killer aliens might appear out of nowhere and take over control." He took a second glance around, shook off the feeling, and went on speaking normally. "1700 Pages! You have to be kidding. Well, time to work..." /

The picture changed and Eli looked tired as he spoke into the camera again.

/ "Day 3. I've hardly eaten, or slept, and I've only finished about half of it. Until now there wasn't any solution for my problem. Those technical instructions aren't exactly bestseller adventures. Considering my luck, the solution is somewhere on the last 50 pages… It's really lonely here and did I mention that the silence is really creepy?" /

The picture changed again and Eli grinned into the camera, the tiredness even more obvious than before. Under his eyes lay dark shadows. He sat on the floor of the stasis pod, surrounded by bits and pieces.

/ "Day 6. I'm officially the greatest expert on Ancient stasis pods in the whole universe… okay, at least amongst humans. I don't ever want to see any text in my life again. Only numbers. Numbers are great. Numbers are brilliant. But I finally identified the problem. I did analyze the other damaged pods of this section and none of them could be repaired, but at least I can take a spare part from one of them and if everything works, I will be frozen food like everyone else in no time…" /

/ "Day 9. It took longer than I thought, but now it's time to say good bye. Moment of truth has come. I have ran the diagnostic and tested everything countless times, and it all looks fine. System is stable and I'm still on schedule. I'll shut down everything now and, well, hope that nothing goes wrong and I'll wake with everyone else. If it doesn't work… Wow, I'm nervous. But hey, I'm a genius. No reasons for worries there. Everything will be fine, piece of cake. We'll meet on the other side…"/

The monitor went black and Young looked at Rush, who looked as surprised as himself. If Eli had gone into stasis, why wasn't he there now? Young doubted that Eli had woken before them and was now walking around the ship without saying anything. With some delay the monitor flickered again and Eli appeared once more, an expression of fear in his face.

/ "Day… no clue." He ran his hand through his hair in a tired, distracted motion. "FTL is offline and my stasis pod short circuited. The system is fried and I'm lucky I'm not fried too. It's unbelievable, but we're on our way into a star." Eli directed the kino away from himself, so one could see that he was standing on the observation deck. Beyond the great window, a star burned in the darkness of space. Then the camera focused back on Eli. "This thing behind me is a runaway star. I'm gonna use it to recharge our energy reserves, and after that… I have to find a way to solve the stasis pod issue. Because the one I repaired is now definitely useless. I know, I should wake you, anyone, but…"

He shook his head and grabbed the kino. The picture went blank for a moment before it showed Eli at another place. By now he looked totally exhausted and it was more then obvious, that he wasn't eating enough.

"Okay, that's it. There is nothing more I can do. If everything works you'll probably be wondering why we're already there. Maybe you've already read the ship's log. I'll make it short: I think Destiny has been disrupted by the electromagnetic radiation of a solar flare from the star we met. Whatever the reason was for the FTL going offline, no one can be so lucky." Eli's gaze wandered to the side for a moment before he shook his head and spoke again. "I spend the last weeks doing some repairs on the ship, like I've already mentioned, reloading Destiny and reprogramming the FTL. Should arrive a lot sooner now. You'll ask yourself why I didn't wake someone. But there are different reasons for that. Maybe…" He stopped in the middle of the sentence and let his gaze wander to the side again. Something seemed to distract him.

"Anyway, everything I could do is done now, but my main problem of the stasis remains. Even with the reload I can't stay awake for the rest of the way. And honestly, I wouldn't be able to stand it. But I found a solution…. At least, I hope so. It's my last chance, as far as I can see... During the repairs in the last weeks I found another stasis section. It only has a few units and it's located in some secluded technical section, damaged before our arrival. There's a breach in that part which hasn't been repaired yet and I'm not able to do it myself, so there is no atmosphere. But one of the pods is definitely intact. Only this part isn't connected to the system anymore. Find me. Get me out of there, because I won't wake automatically with you…" /

He seemed to want to say something else. But he only shook his head and whispered a soft 'good luck' before the picture ceased and the monitor showed only some diagrams and data.

For a moment there was nothing but silence. Young was speechless at first, an then he turned to Rush.

"Can you find him?" he demanded of Rush, who immediately started typing on the console.

"What the hell did Eli do the whole time? … There it is." Rush accessed a map of the ship and indicated a remote section. "He should be there. It's a damaged area, but there is a weak energy reading that wasn't there before."

"Help me to get the spacesuit on and guide me there. I will look for Eli, and in the meantime you will wake the first section and send TJ, Greer and Scoot to me. The others shall help you here."

Rush checked the power level of the space suit, then helped Young into it.

They left the room together, but shortly thereafter parted ways. While Rush went back to the stasis sections, Young followed the instructions he had gotten from him.

The longer life support was on, the better the air got. Breathing felt easier. Young had the urge to run, which was effectively prevented by the suit. In any case, there wasn't any reason to be in a hurry. As long as Eli was in stasis everything was alright; and if he hadn't made it, time had no meaning anymore. But it was exactly this uncertainty that was driving Young into a rush. He had to know that the young man was well… that they all had made it. Not because of the sacrifice of one person.

His heavy footfalls made the silence nearly tangible as he passed the corridors under the emergency light. It seemed to take an eternity again till he reached a locked door with a big cross drawn with chalk on it. Behind it could only be the damaged section.

"Rush, this is Young. I've found it and I'm going in."

"Wait a second," came the quick respond over the radio.

There was a short break, then TJ's voice. "Colonel?"

"TJ, is everything alright?"

"Yes, no complications during the waking so far. Greer and Scott are here too."

"Good, let Rush explain everything and show you the way. Wait for me at the second door near the locked section. I will radio you when I'm back."

"Copied, sir."

Young switched off the radio and tucked it away before putting on his helmet and activating his magnetic boots. There was no way of knowing if there would be any gravity on the other side. After he had checked everything properly, he shut the door behind him and opened the one in front of him. Immediately a strong pull set in, only letting go when all atmosphere had escaped. Then he started walking. He had been prepared for a search, but Eli had left obvious tracks. Along the wall was a white, shaky chalkline. This worried Young, along with the state of the section. There was a wide gap in the floor and the damage on the inside couldn't be ignored either. This place had no energy left and therefore no artificial gravity. The stasis pods in here must have been self-sustained or else they wouldn't have been any use to Eli.

He worked his way through the corridor, one hand on the wall, following the white line till it finally ended abruptly at a half opened door. The opening was barely wide enough to get through with the space suit. The room behind was small and housed exactly four stasis pods. At one of them, the control crystals were shimmering slightly. When Young stood in front of it, however, he had to look down before spotting Eli. The space suit covered the shape of the young man who was half cowering on the floor of the pod. That didn't look good. But he hadn't looked healthy at all on the last recording of the kino. Whatever had happened in the weeks Eli had been awake, he obviously hadn't wasted much thought on eating.

But he wouldn't get anywhere by puzzling about it. He only had to get Eli out of there now, and they could answer all questions later. Young's heart was beating far too fast as he deactivated the stasis pod. It took some moments before the device shut down. Eli's body started to float in weightlessness as the pod opened. Obviously the pod had its own gravity field.

Young instantly grabbed the younger one by the arms. "Eli. Eli! Are you awake?"

"Colonel … found me," he replied weakly, a faint smile on his lips behind the visor of the helmet.

"Yeah, I did. Hang on. Can you walk?"

Eli shook his head slightly. He must have walked into that pod on his last strength.

"Okay, no problem. We can do this. Just hang in there."

Eli nodded, his eyes half closed. Thanks to the weightlessness Young trekked Eli without much effort out of the small room and brought him back to the closed door. On the way he radioed Rush. "I found Eli. TJ shall stand by. Reestablish the atmosphere as soon as I have shut the door behind me."

"Understood."

"Eli, talk to me. Stay awake."

„Hmmm, 'm tired," Eli mumbled, and didn't say anything else.

Young was relieved when he finally reached the door and shut it behind him.

"Now. Rush!" Gravity was established again and the ventilation came to life with a loud fizzling. He fell to his knees, taking Eli with him to the floor. It seemed to take an eternity till he heard the second door open.

"TJ!"

"I'm here."

Young freed himself from his helmet and then helped Eli with his before the blond woman reached them.

"Eli, can you hear me? What happened?" the medic ask as she knelt down and took Eli's pulse.

"No idea. We have to get him out of the suit and into the infirmary. Scott! Greer!"

"Yes, sir!" Both young men had been standing directly behind TJ and came closer now. Together they carefully released Eli from the space suit and helped him sit up.

"Everything's fine. Just tired," Eli mumbled again and again, but he obviously had no energy left to help them. He could hardly keep his eyes open.

Young took one step back and observed them while he began to get rid of his own suit.

Eli was alive. Everyone had made it, but something still wasn't right. This wasn't the result of tiredness and too little food. As Eli's left arm was freed from the suit, it even became more apparent. His skin was red from fingertips to elbow, partially covered with blisters and scabs.

"Oh my god." TJ put her hands over her mouth in alarm. Greer and Scott tried to hurry and be as careful as possible at the same time, not knowing what other injuries Eli might have. Young looked away from the sight, finally getting rid of the suit completely and letting it slight to the ground. They could come and get them later, when everything had calmed down.

"Young, do you read?" Rush's voice sounded from the radio at TJ's belt. Young got it from her and answered while they finally made their way to the infirmary. Luckily Greer and Scoot didn't ask any questions as they carried Eli between them.

"Young here."

There was a short pause before Rush's voice came again. "Do you have him?"

"Yes, but he isn't in a good shape. We're bringing him to the infirmary."

"Leave it to the others and come back here. This will interest you. Rush over."

Young rolled his eyes and sighed. Nothing had changed. Everything was as before.

"Understood, over." He switched off the radio and gave it back to TJ.

"How did he get down there and what caused the burns?" She asked, no and then casting worried glances at Eli.

"If only I knew. While we were sleeping, some things happened. Take care of him. Maybe he will wake up enough to give us some answers." Young parted ways with the little group reluctantly, but TJ would take good care of Eli and he himself couldn't do much for the young man at the moment. Accompanied by the silence of the empty hallways, he headed back to the control room to meet with Rush.

"So, what did you find?"

"I used the time to investigate the logbook. At least I have a rough roundup from Destiny's point of view."

"And?" Young asked impatiently.

"We had left the last galaxy behind us and had made it about a quarter of the way to the next one when a disruption overloaded the already damaged FTL drive. It was obviously caused by a solar flare from a star that wasn't supposed to be there."

"The runaway star?" Young remembered from Eli's recording.

"Yes, a runaway star. A star that moves faster than its neighbors and finally leaves its original galaxy. Anyway, its electromagnetic fields disrupted Destiny's systems. A spike short circuited Eli's unstable stasis pod and woke him. After that, Eli was apparently extremely busy: he repaired some systems, refueled Destiny completely, entered new course calculations and did some more repairs with the help of the robots. Before he went back into stasis he entered search criteria for possible planets: food, water, resources."

"How long was Eli out of stasis?"

"According to this? Seven weeks at least, but I can't tell exactly."

"That explains why we are already here, but not why Eli is in such a bad shape."

"What shape?" Rush asked. Young recognized the open worry in the scientist's voice.

"He has some heavy burns and he is hardly conscious. I have no idea how he made into the stasis like that. TJ is taking care of him now."

"Good, let's hope he is better soon. Only he can tell us what he was doing all that time."

"Yes. Is there anything else? What about the others you've woken?"

"Beside the others, I only woke Chloe, and she was on her way to the infirmary. We should wait until we finish reloading Destiny before we wake anyone else."

"Agreed. But I will contact Earth now."

"Now?" Rush asked, skeptical.

"Yes, there is still time till we arrive, and it won't take long. They should know that we are already awake, and I'm sure you'd like to know if they have found a new Icarus planet in the meantime."

"Sure," Rush responded.

Young turned away and was already half way out of the room when Rush spoke again. "But you know what's strange, Colonel? Eli's recording shows the moment when he comes out of stasis and then some minutes before he goes into the next one, but there is nothing in between. One should think that with all the stoic documentation he does there should be material about the weeks in between those two points."

"Yeah, one should think so." Young knew what Rush was aiming at. The kino they had found surely wasn't the only one. But right now they had no time for this and Eli would tell them everything later. Now he had to go to Earth.

He took the radio from his belt and switched it on.

"Scott, Greer, do you read?"

"Yes sir," Scott answered instantly.

"How is Eli?"

"Hard to tell, but he is stable and asleep. TJ took care of the injuries. Chloe is here too and is helping her."

"Good. Take Greer and meet me at the communications lab."

"Understood, sir."

When he arrived there, the room was as silent as everything else on board the Destiny. Greer and Scott came in soon after.

"You're contacting Earth?" Scott asked. Young nodded briefly.

"We should at least let them know that we are awake again. However, I don't know who will be on the other end, and that's why I need you to monitor me. If something is off, cut off the connection instantly. I should be away for an hour at most. We still don't know how flying through a star affects the stones. If I don't cut the connection, you do it."

"Yes sir," they answered in unison. Young sat down at the table the device lay on. He took it out of its casing, switched it on, and after a short hesitation put a stone on the glowing tablet. Nothing happened.

„What happened?" Scott asked. Young shrugged one shoulder slightly.

"Nothing, obviously." He took the stone down, cleaned it up and switched off the device.

"Do you think something happened on Earth?"

"No idea. There could be a dozen reasons and it makes no sense to speculate about it. We'll try again when we are on the other side of the star. Make an inventory of the food and then rest. Till Destiny is refueled, there isn't much else we can do."

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed." Both men left the room while Young stayed seated for another moment. He was tired. Actually, there were uncounted reasons for the connection not working. The device on Earth could be off. Nobody awaited them, so there was no reason to leave it going. But would they have to wait a whole year until Homeworld Command would expect them and let some one near the stones? The war against the Lucian Alliance could be going bad for them as well, and there could very well be no Homeworld Command left anymore. There was really no sense in driving himself crazy with that question. They just had to try again later.

With his last bit of energy Young went to the infirmary to look after Eli, Chloe and TJ. Both women sat on the right and left of a bed in which Eli lay, talking to each other quietly, Eli either asleep or still unconscious. His left hand was bandage up to the elbow and his visibly slimmer body was covered by a light blanket. A wet washcloth lay on his forehead and an IV was attached to his right hand.

When Young entered, Chloe and TJ looked up instantly.

"How is he?"

"Hard to say. Aside from the burns he has some smaller scrapes and cuts, a light fever and has obviously lost weight. He is dehydrated and exhausted enough to still be unconscious. We will know more when he wakes up, but I think he will recover."

"Good. That's good." Young smiled, relieved, but still looked at Eli. His conscience wouldn't ease before a grinning Eli stood in front of him again.

"You look exhausted," Chloe said after a while. TJ looked up at him scrutinizingly.

"When did you last sleep, Colonel?"

"We just did sleep two years, TJ."

"I meant real sleep, not frozen."

"I don't know."

"Then go now. Rush said we can't do much the next couple of hours. So finally get some sleep."

Young wanted to protest, but he couldn't come up with an argument. So he stayed silent and nodded approvingly.

"Two years? Wasn't it supposed to be three?" Chloe asked belatedly, looking at him confused. It showed how exhausted he really was, because he hadn't meant to say that just yet. But there was no point in hiding it- everyone would find out eventually anyway.

"En route we unexpectedly met a star that wasn't supposed to be there. Eli managed to recharge Destiny and speed up our journey. We don't know more yet."

Both women gazed astonished at Eli. He definitely would have to answer a lot of questions as soon as he woke up.

"I will get some sleep. If something happens, wake me." He gestured into a corner of the room, where some beds were separated with some light walls. At the moment he didn't want to go back to his own quarters. He would have to pass half of the ship and at the end he had to get back here anyway. He would save himself the time.

As soon as he lay down his body felt heavy and tired. Accompanied by the silent voices of the others in the background, it didn't take long for him to fall asleep, despite his rotating thoughts.

Young was woken by the sound of several voices. He didn't really feel better, more like beaten. When he opened his eyes TJ stood beside him and smiled dully.

"Hey, you still look worn," she said quietly and confidentially. Young sighed.

"Yes. How long did I…?"

"About six hours. Not nearly enough, but Destiny is refilled and we are back in FTL. Rush wants to know, what will happen next."

"Okay, I'm on my way. Just give me a minute."

"Take your time." She left again and Young stretched lightly. Definitely, the sleep hadn't helped much, although he had gotten along with less. His reserves had been completely depleted.

When he finally left the quiet space behind the divider, TJ, Rush, Chloe, Scott and Greer had gathered around Eli's bed, who hadn't woken yet. They looked up as he walked to them.

"What's our status?" he asked. Scott answered first.

"Obviously Eli maintained a list of his activities. Compared to the lists, which were made before we went into stasis, our supplies haven't changed much. The problem is that we still have to find a planet on which we can resupply our food and water in the near future."

"Destiny is heading for the best candidates. Meanwhile, we will have to ration again. It would also help if we don't bring everyone out of stasis. Just the necessary personnel," Rush interjected, and Young had to concede, albeit unwillingly. The thought of leaving those people in stasis made him uncomfortable, but at the moment there was no other option. If they were all awake, their supplies would diminish too fast, no matter how much they rationed.

"Okay, make a list of who you need."

"The recordings, if they are complete, also explain at least partly why Eli is in such a bad state. He didn't eat much at the beginning and nearly nothing at the end," TJ added.

"He didn't know if he would be able to solve the stasis issue and after energy wasn't a problem anymore he tried to make it without. He wanted to hold on as long as possible," Rush explained dryly. His commend provoked new questions.

Greer asked what everyone had written on their face. "What stasis issue?"

"We were the last three to go into stasis," Young said, indicating Rush, Eli and himself, "and it turned out that one of the pods was more damaged than the others. Eli stayed outside and repaired it. What happened after that only he can say."

Awkward silence fell upon them, which was finally broken by Rush. "We should get to work. With some luck it hopefully won't take long until our next stop. We should have a working team together by then."

"Rush is right. TJ, go with him and monitor everything. Greer and Scott, have you fetched the space suits yet?"

"No."

"Okay, then fetch and check them. After that you can come back to the others. TJ, you'll help Rush. Chloe stays with Eli. If his condition changes, report to TJ immediately."

He got confirmations from all sides and the room started to empty. He would have prefered to stay and wait for Eli to wake up. He wanted to know what had happened, and to apologize for letting it, and he wanted to hear from Eli himself that everything was fine. And that from an Eli who wasn't half unconscious but could think clearly.

With a last look at the unconscious man he left the room, though he had no idea what to do. Sleeping was out of question. Maybe he should also oversee the waking of the others. After all, they had to wake some of the military too. If they had to go to a planet, they would be crucial. But his feet took him unconsciously into another direction, which he only realized when he reached Eli's room. It looked messy, but half empty; after all, most of the inventory was still in the interface control room. With everything that must have happened, Eli obviously had other things to think about than cleaning up. He was still a boy, no matter how much he had developed on board the Destiny.

Rush's words came back to his mind. Was there maybe another kino, one that showed everything that Eli had left out on the kino that they'd found? Or perhaps he hadn't thought of recording those lonely weeks? The latter seemed nearly impossible to him. No matter how stressful the circumstances, he had always thought of the kino.

Young looked around again, this time more closely, but none of the small spheres was lying around the room. Eli probably hadn't spent much time there. And even if there were any recordings somewhere, it was Eli's privacy. As curious as he was, as long as there were no threat to Destiny or the people aboard, he had to respect it.

Abruptly he turned away and went on his way to the communications lab. He would try again to contact Earth. He had duties to fulfill and didn't have any time to waste on things he couldn't change right now anyway.

With the radio he contacted Scott. "Scott, do you read?"

"Yes, sir?"

"What's your status?"

"We brought back the suits. They look good, but a closer check-up would be Park's task… or someone else who knows them better than we do." Obviously Scott had forgotten that the scientist was only of limited use in such matters since her blindness. "We also found the third suit with a note attached to it. It's damaged."

"Understood. Meet up with TJ and choose five of our people, so Rush doesn't only wake scientists. And send Greer to the communications lab."

„Yes, sir."

When Young arrived at the stones, Greer was already there and waiting for him.

"If something seams wrong, turn it off," he reminded, then he laid one stone on the working communication device. It took some moments, but this time the connection worked. As he opened his eyes, blinking, he found himself on Earth. At least it looked like it. He sat in a chair, some reports on the table before him, next to them the communication device and a monitor. Obviously he was in the body of a young sergeant.

The man at the door had noticed his changed behavior.

"Identify."

"Colonel Everett Young." He told him his ID and stood slowly.

Bewilderment showed on the face of the guard before he could control his features.

"I have to talk to Colonel Telford" Young demanded hoping that the man was still there.

"Please wait a moment, sir."

The guard vanished and then reappeared a short time later, gesturing for him to follow. Young knew the way because he had walked it several times before, and apparently nothing had changed.

The guard guided him through a couple of corridors and up an elevator, finally gesturing in the direction of an open door, which led into an office. But instead of David Telford like Young had expected, it was general Jack O'Neill sitting over a pile of documents. As Young entered he shoved the papers aside and stood to greet him. He hadn't changed much in the last two years. Grey, short hair; a round face from the job behind the desk. His time in the field was over, but Young was sure that he was still not to be underestimated.

"General."

"Everett, is that really you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Take a seat. What happened? Did something go wrong? We weren't expecting you for at least another year."

Young sat in the free chair at the desk while O'Neill did the same on the opposite side. "I wouldn't say that anythings's wrong. We have reached the next galaxy."

"Really? I thought it would take three years, minimum."

O'Neill showed earnest bewilderment and Young could comprehend that. He didn't understand everything himself yet.

He wasn't sure if he should mention that Eli had stayed out because of the damaged stasis pod two years ago. He decided not to. It wasn't germane to the explanation. "Eli…. Mister Wallace was woken early thanks to a short circuit in his stasis pod. Destiny had crossed paths with a star in empty space that hadn't been detected by the seed ships. He was able to refill all energy reserves completely and do some repairs to the FTL drive that we hadn't had time for before the jump. That way he could raise the FTL drive's efficiency and accelerate the jump. At least that's what we got from the records of a kino. Mister Wallace is in the infirmary at the moment and not conscious. Dr. Rush, Lt. Johannsen and Lt. Scott are working on waking a team of scientists and military personnel which will attempt more repairs on Destiny and try to resupply. As soon as this is finished we will wake the rest of the crew members from stasis." Young ended his short briefing and looked openly at O'Neill.

"Seems like you had more than a little luck, Everett. Mister Wallace is going to have a lot questions to answer when he wakes up."

"Yes, sir. That he will. What has been happening on Earth in the meantime? How is the situation with the Lucian Alliance?

"We were able to deal them some severe blows and push them back. Unfortunately they still haven't given up and they are not to be underestimated, but it's gotten easier," O'Neill replied tersely.

Young got wary. "What about the supplyline?"

"I want to be honest—it's not looking good. Langara still refuses to cooperate. In fact, we located a new potential Icarus planet, but conditions on the planet are extreme so it's nearly impossible to built a base there. Other candidates in this galaxy haven't been found yet."

"What about the Pegasus galaxy?"

O'Neill hesitated, seemed to calculate something and made a decision. "About half a year ago Atlantis was sent back to the Pegasus galaxy. The Wraith are still there and getting them under control is a slow process. The money for the project has been limited and reduced from Icarus. At the moment, Atlantis has only a couple of scientists and they have their hands full with other projects… Like I said, we expected you at the earliest in a year from now."

They stared at each other for some moments before O'Neill looked away.

"They wanted to wait and see if we made it. You gave up on us because some politicians decided we are not worth the money," Young stated dryly, hardly surprised. An uninvited feeling of betrayal took stole over him.

O'Neill' hesitation confirmed his words clearly enough.

"Everett, we haven't given up on you. But our hands are tied. You know how politicians are. They think about election campaigns and their reputation. Now that you are back, we can debate that anew.

"Sure, and how long will that take?" Young raised an eyebrow and stood. "The fact that we made a connection was pure luck, right? You didn't expect us, not now. The stones weren't activated because of us."

O'Neill stayed silent and Young massaged his temple in exhaustion. This wasn't what he had wanted to hear, but it was still better than all of the scenarios he had envisioned according the Lucian Alliance.

"I have to get back. You know now that we are back and will get a full report later."

O'Neill nodded and didn't say anything else, apparently he knowing that he couldn't say anything to change the situation.

Young saluted fractionally and let himself be guided back to the stones by the guard.

When he ended the connection, he found himself in his own body back on Destiny. Greer sat across from him observantly.

"I'm back. Has anything happened?"

„No, sir. Everything is calm."

„Good. Let's get back to the others."

In the stasis section they found only Brody and Volker. Both stood at a console and were absorbed in a conversation as Young and Greer entered the corridor. Most of the pods were opened. Camille was one of those who still slept. Young thought about letting her be woken too, but at the moment her skills weren't of any use. If she should resent him this, he could still deal with it later. At the moment they had other priorities.

"Where are Rush and the others?" Young asked after greeting both man and making sure that they had no aftereffects from the stasis.

"Rush is on the bridge, which is where we're headed in a moment. Scott has selected his team and is somewhere on the ship with them," Brody said.

Young joined the two scientists on their way and went directly to Rush, who was entering something into a console.

"You were on Earth?" Rush asked quietly, while the others were busy and no one paid them attention.

"Yes," Young answered shortly. He considered what to say, but at last openness between them had paid off. And sooner or later Rush would find out everything anyway, exactly as would all the others on board.

"Bad news?"

"More or less. The Lucian Alliance seems to be mostly under control, but like we thought, they weren't expecting us. To be more clear, they have written us off. In fact, they found an Icarus planet, but it's not possible to establish a base there. In addition the House stopped the money and the search for another planet has been suspended."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Rush retorted coolly. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the console. "What happens now?"

Young didn't need to wait long for an answer. After all, he had had time to think about all that all the way. "For the time being, nothing. They know now that we are back. We will see what they do with this information. In the meantime we will continue like before. If we want to go home, we'll have to find a way ourselves. In the end, it's what we knew the whole time. Even with an Icarus planet the connection would be a one-way-street. We could have used the supplies, but we are in a new galaxy now. Hopefully one where we won't meet hostile aliens. In this case we can concentrate fully on supplying ourselves and repairing the ship so that we can dial Earth again. All we needed to repair the stasis pods was the right material. That should be possible with the main part of the ship too. There must be instructions for all those systems in the database."

"Surely not for everything, but for most of it, yes. I like that plan." The corner of Rush's mouth twitched suspiciously upwards.

"I thought so."

They were interrupted by the FTL drive shutting down. The already-familiar feeling that followed was still strange.

"Planet?" Young asked. Rush shrugged his shoulders.

"Looks like it. Let's find out."

They met Scott's team at the gate room.

Corporal Barns was at the control console. "There is only one gate in range, sir."

"Dial and send a kino through."

"Yes, sir." Tense silence spread while chevron after chevron lit up, a connection established, and the kino vanished through the event horizon. Young and Rush stepped over to Barns as they received the first data and pictures.

"Oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen... atmosphere isn't perfect but it's breathable, no toxins. But it's quite cold out there. The suits might be the most comfortable."

"They are not an option at the moment. We'll just have to dress warm enough and try not to stay too long. Varro, James, Greer, Johns- come with me to the planet. TJ, you supervise from here. Scott will be in command."

"There is vegetation, so it must be some sort of winter right now. Besides the water supply you also should look for edibles. It's possible that there are animals," Rush commented after a thoughtful look at the record.

"Okay." Young gestured Barns to shut the gate down. They had to collect some stuff first, but that didn't take long. Half an hour later he and a small team found themselves on the planet in the middle of a winter wonderland. The air was noticeably thinner than they were used to, but it would be okay for a while. They would have to take breaks.

The sky above them was hung with heavy grey clouds, which were snowing soft flakes down on them. But there was definitely daylight. The question was for how long?

They tested the snow near the gate where it lay in a thick layer. Sure enough it was potable water.

"Greer, you stay here and coordinate the transport. With every load you change the team. Mind TJ's instructions. I don't want any unnecessary trips to the infirmary.

"Yes, sir."

"Varro, you'll come with me. We will take a look around the vicinity." He got an affirmative nod from the skilled tracker. "Did you find any marks around here?"

"No, nothing so far. But if it's snowing like this the whole time, than it means nothing. Light traces vanish fast beneath it."

"Okay." Young took a searching look around. They were surrounded by snow covered trees and stood at the food of a light slope. Aside from the small clearing the Stargate was placed in, everything looked the same.

"Uphill or downhill?" Varro asked. Without traces, it didn't matter.

"Uphill," Young decided as he started to walk. They made only slow progress because they sank into the deep, loose snow again and again. It was strange how similar these planets were to Earth, even though they were on the other side of the universe.

"How are your injuries?" Young didn't think about the outcome of the horrible fall on Novus anymore. Just now, as he saw that Varro wasn't moving as smoothly as he used to, he was reminded of it. Maybe he shouldn't have taken him with him. On the other hand, he was sure that Varro was experienced enough to know and say when he had the feeling that he was hindering a mission.

"The shoulder is still a little sore, but everything else is fine again. Tamara did a great job in patching me up," Varro replied without hesitation.

"That's good. You gave us a damn scare."

"Yes, and I owe you for not leaving me behind there."

"You saved TJ more than once and you are a member of the crew. You owe me nothing."

Varro didn't reply anything, so Young let the topic drop, though he still had questions concerning TJ. But they could wait.

After nearly half an hour Young finally stopped. "We should return soon. We won't find anything here." It seemed the whole trip had been a waste of time. But despite the cold and the thin air, Young was happy for it, because the chance to get off the ship was seldom.

"Yes, that…" Varro broke off in the middle of his sentence and listened. "Do you hear that?"

Young listened closely and actually could hear it too. A quiet swooshing, dampened by all the snow. "A river?"

"Possibly. Shall we take a look before we return?"

"Yes, maybe our dinner is swimming in there."

"That would be great."

They went on and followed the sound, which steadily became stronger. Soon it sounded more like a roar and as they brought some trees behind them, they could finally see the source. Straight ahead the ground broke into a steep slope and to their right a river half covered by ice and snow poured into the abyss.

Carefully Young walked closer. Through the snow it was nearly impossible to judge the ground accurately. Finally he was close enough to the edge to get a clear view of the ground. It was a thirty-foot drop down there. Varro stepped next to him carefully.

"Under normal circumstanecs, it would be easy to get down there with ropes, but it's not worth the effort in our present situation. We should get back."

"Yes, this planet has refilled our water supplies at least. Food we will find hopefully on the next one."

Young turned around and saw out of the corner of his eye a short movement before everything happened too fast. He didn't even have time to shout a warning. He pushed Varro aside and felt a hard impact in the next moment. He was flung through the air, his mind screaming that he was too close to the edge. He heard shots, the enraged roar of their attacker, and then the air rushing past his ears as he fell. The heavy impact nearly bereaved him of all his senses. Pain flooded his body, icy cold penetrating his skin as masses of snow slid down on him and took his breath. Finally everything went black around him as he lost consciousness.

Yeahs, cliffhanger- I know, I'm meany, but hang in there, it's not what it seems... mostly ;-)

So, wow, this is not only my first SGU fanfiction but also my first try in translating one of my works. It's a lot of work, but it's fun too and I'm learning with every page. That's so cool.

The reason I translated this is simple: I love English... and, okay, because I figured there are a lot more people out there understanding English than German ;-)

I also wanted elementals and CleanWhiteRoom (you're both amazing) to read this as they are to be blamed mostly for me finally writing this idea down. I hope you like it at least a little.

I love commands and talking in English in general, so talk to me whenever you feel like it.


	2. The lost star 2 of 3

_Eli opened his eyes and blinked, confused. Something was wrong. He had given Destiny clear instructions for their arrival to the next galaxy: power up live support, activate the lights, wake up certain crew members. But it was pitch dark aside from the control lights of the stasis pod and the air was stifling and freezing cold. In addition, his pod seemed to be the only one open. Something wasn't right at all._

_Eli tried to stay calm. He felt blindly around and slipped slowly to his knees. Finally he found the flashlight and the spacesuit. Both he had put there, for emergency. This could surely be called an emergency._

_With a click he switched the flashlight on and shone it around himself. The control lights of his stasis pod were out. The device seemed dead. He took a closer look and found some suspiciously dark looking crystals._

_Burned out._

_A short-circuit?_

_This definitely wasn't good._

_He thought about getting the suit on, but then he let that thought slip. Oxygen and energy in those were limited and there were only three of them. He had to think twice about when to use them. And even if it was cold, at the moment he seemed to be getting along fine without._

_With an uneasy feeling in his stomach he continued to look around. On all other pods the control lamps were glowing like they should be. In this section really nobody else was awake. Shivering, Eli walked through the whole section and came to a sobering conclusion: he was the only one awake, and it would have to stay that way until he had found out what was going on. Or where they were at the moment and how much time had passed._

_To get warm he jogged to the interface control room and had to breath deeply when he got there. Without live support he would be out of air sooner or later. Rather sooner. But he didn't want to think that far ahead right now. First he had to get Destiny to give him some badly needed information. He switched on one of the consoles and searched for the sensors and log of the ship, careful about using as little energy as possible. The results were not only confusing, but alarming too. Destiny stood still. They weren't in FTL anymore, and even sublight engines were offline. They were just drifting through empty space. According to the log they had only managed to make it one third of the way between the galaxies. Nor was their energy used up yet, so there was no reason for them being here. Aside from the little point the sensors were identifying as a star._

_Eli paused. That couldn't be. They were in the middle of nowhere, there weren't supposed to be stars and the seed ships hadn't registered anything of this sort, else they would have planed their course accordingly and calculated the star as a stop to refuel._

_This was too good to be true._

_Was he hallucinating?_

_Was he dreaming?_

_The latter would be unlikely, because one didn't dream while in stasis. One was completely frozen._

_Armed with his flashlight Eli walked to the observations deck and looked out into space. There should have been total darkness, but right in front of him there really was a star._

_"That's impossible", Eli whispered to himself on his way back to the control room. Once there he adjusted the sensors for a more detailed analysis, booting up the systems. This thing in front of them really was a star, a brown dwarf to be exact. It wasn't really hot, but according to Destiny hot enough to refuel. _

_"Why did you fall out of FTL, hm?" Eli talked softly to himself as he checked more data. Soon enough he found the necessary information. A sunflare. The electromagnetic fields must have struck the already damaged ship with full force. That would explain the burned crystals in his stasis pod. The energy fluctuations had overloaded the systems and confused Destiny. But it was nothing they couldn't repair. He just had to wake Rush and Young and maybe Brody and…_

_Eli paused. And then? They would wake Destiny, refill the reserves and bring her back on course. Sure, but Young and Rush wouldn't agree to letting him outside, now that it was obvious that the pod wasn't repairable anymore. No, he had to do this on his own and nobody could know what had happened. Not before it was all over._

_Eli carefully tested some systems, and Destiny reacted to him. He entered a newly calculated course for the star into the autopilot and hoped that the ship would recharge fully again. It would take a while with the sublight drive till they reached the star. Time enough to make serious plans. Yes, time…. He had more than enough of that now because there were no aliens chasing them anymore and he had a energy source directly in front of him. So what was left to do? Thanks to the emergency lights and the live support he could move freely now. _

_Thoughtful, he walked back to the stasis section and stood in front of Rush's chamber. What would the man do now? The most obvious was the energy, but he had taken care of that._

"_What else?" he wondered aloud, laying a hand on the glass and feeling the cool material under his fingers while live support slowly increased the temperature to a tolerable degree._

_They had thought about restricting life support to a small, separate area when they had thought they would have to leave eight men out. He considered doing that himself, and using the suits if he wanted to move outside the area. Aside from that he could do some repairs. Destiny's database surely could help him there. He could let the robots work on the hull and the drive and some burned circuits he surely could fix… God, he must be insane to try this on his own. A ship like this was built to be run by a whole crew, not by a single person. But what else could he do? He couldn't use the stones, because whomever would be on the other end, couldn't be more well-versed about the ship than himself, and that person would just end up waking the others. He could always wake them himself, but he would avoid that for as long as he could._

"_I will do this. You will see." He turned away and looked to Young, who was also standing totally still in his chamber. "I will be there. That's what I promised, and I will keep that promise. Dying is not on my to-do-list."_

_Eli turned away completely and went to work. There was a lot to do._

He felt horrible. He was hot, he was thirsty, and everything seemed to hurt. Eli breathed slowly and opened his eyes, blinking. He was in the infirmary. Clearly. He lay on his back, his hands lay on the covers, his left hand bandaged accurately from elbow to fingertips. Not as poor as he tried one handed by himself. Next to him on the cover was bedded a dark shock of hair.

"Chloe," he tried to say, but all he got out was a rasping sound. Yet it had the desired result. The head of the young woman rose. She looked at him in shock for a moment before a mixture of worry and relief showed on her face. She seemed tired.

"Eli, thank god! You are awake. How are you feeling?" Her voice nearly broke and made him smile weakly. He had missed her, the conversations with her. After all they had become real friends even despite the things that had happened, or maybe because of them.

He tried to talk again and at least managed a rough "crappy". Was that really his voice? And why did he feel that hot?

Chloe held a bottle to his lips. „Drink. TJ said you were dehydrated. You didn't drink enough, and with all these burns..." She stopped and helplessly shrugged her shoulders.

Eli took some gulps, but it only helped a small bit. He felt so heavy and tired. Chloe put the bottle away and took a radio.

"TJ, do you read?"

"I read, Chloe."

"Eli is awake. He…"

That was all Eli heard before tiredness took over and he fell asleep again.

_Eli stood unsure in front of the control interface. All he had to do was to push this button and his programming would be executed. He was sure that nothing could go wrong, but the past had shown that he wasn't infallible._

_After Eli had adjusted to his new situation, he had made a list of things that had to be repaired, with the FTL-drive being on top of this list. Probably he couldn't repair it completely, but maybe he could make it more effective by isolating the weak points like they did before their last great jump._

_The only problem was that he couldn't do this on his own. He lacked the knowledge. Control over the ship, which they hadn't had the last time, was only of limited use. A bypass order alone wouldn't do the trick. So he had two options left: either he read thousands of pages from Destiny's database, which would take an eternity, or ask the one person that knew the system better than anyone else._

_He would get Dr. Perry out of quarantine. Essentially, he already had decided to do it, or else he wouldn't have written this program and found a way to communicate with her while still preventing her from interfering with the ship's systems. He just replaced one quarantine with another._

_He sighed tiredly. No, he definitely wouldn't read through the whole database, if he could avoid it, if there was a faster way. With this thought he started the program. Immediately it started to move Dr. Perry's consciousness. A small bar showed him the progress which was, despite the tremendous amount of data, quite fast. When the process was finished the monitor stayed black. Eli had given the quarantine access to audio and video sensors, but Dr. Perry would be only able to communicate per writing with him, at the moment._

"_Dr. Perry?" he asked after a while where nothing happened._

_/Eli… Nick?/ appeared the short answer on the monitor. So it had worked._

"_No, only Eli."_

_/What happened?/_

"_I got you out of quarantine because I need your help with the FTL drive."_

_/Quarantine?/_

"_You nearly killed Dr. Rush with your simulation. Do you remember? To stop it I had to isolate you and Ginn from the ship."_

_For a while nothing happened on the monitor. /Where is Nick? I want to talk to him./_

"_He isn't here. They're all in stasis. I need your help with the FTL drive."_

_/What happened?/ she asked again._

_Eli sighed and gave her a short synopsis of the events. Their fights with the drones, the jump to the next galaxy and the unexpected star. "I could just refuel Destiny, but I want to repair whatever possible to accelerate the jump."_

_/I have no access to the ship's systems. How am I supposed to help?/_

"_You just have to tell me what to do. I know that's long-winded but I won't give you access to the systems, no matter what." Eli took a deep breath and tried a calmer voice. Please help me. It would take me forever on my own, if I even were able to figure out how to do it."_

_/For Nick/ she answered, and Eli identified it as her agreement. _

_What followed were three weeks of constant work with little sleep and food. And Eli was always followed by a kino. If everything went well, no one would ever see the records. But if not, they should know what happened. Then there would be nothing for him to be embarrassed about. Not the time he spend in front of the stasis pods and talked to the frozen crewmembers, not his contemplations of removing Ginn from quarantine too, and not his desperate tries to stay fit with Chloe's yoga exercises while the repair robots fixed the damaged parts at the FTL drive._

_They also recorded how he got some small scratches and burns now and then while he did some repairs on the circuits or how he seemed to do monologues. That had started about a week after he had woken. When his mother appeared to him for the first time he had been totally spooked, convinced that he had lost his sanity. When Dr. Franklin also appeared to give him cryptic, unhelpful advice, Eli knew it was Destiny. Rush had mentioned something like it before. _

_He had no idea what the ship intended, but after he had checked that there was no simulation like the one Colonel Young had experienced, he allowed it. He had no time to deal with it. _

_Through all this time he carried Dr. Perry on a portable console with him. After a short time he had given her a voice, because often it was impossible to read her advice and act on it at the same time._

_In a strange way they had come to terms with each other._

_He tried not to think about her nearly killing Rush, and that it was more or less her fault that he had in a way lost Ginn a second time._

_She didn't resent him for isolating her and strongly limiting her options strongly even now. /Almost like my old body/ she had said once during the first few days._

_Together they were fast and efficient. It was the perfect working relationship. They actually managed to fix a great deal of the energy drains and raise the efficiency of the FTL drive before they reached the star._

Eli opened his eyes a second time. He felt only slightly better than the first time. In the corner of his eye he could see a low glow beside him. "Sidus," he whispered, and relief swept over him.

"Eli!" Suddenly Chloe stood beside him and the glow was gone.

"Sorry, I must have fallen asleep," he said groggily, trying to smile. Her serious face made him worry. "Is something wrong?"

"It'…" She obviously searched for words and then shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "We have a gate connection to a planet to refill our water supplies. There was an incident. Colonel Young fell off a cliff and was buried under an avalanche. They're trying to rescue him at the moment, but it's hard." She took a shaky breath and sank onto a chair next to the bed.

Eli swallowed dryly. He hadn't expected something like this. He didn't know what to say and finally tried a quiet "It'll be fine." Not only for Chloe but to calm himself too. They already had been in many seemingly hopeless situations, situations where death had been as good as sure, but they were still here. They mustn't give up hope; like he hadn't given up hope…

_Eli sat cross-legged next to Colonel Young's stasis pod, resting against the cool, slightly curved glass, eyes half closed. Tiredly, he told everything that had happened, well aware that the kino was recording everything. "About an hour ago we came out of the center of the star and now have 100% energy again. I will recalculate our speed and reprogram Destiny's autopilot as soon as we have left the coronassphere. She should be able to arrive some months earlier than we'd planed. I transferred Dr. Perry back in to quarantine, back to Ginn. How shall we ever be able to find new bodies for them? Bodies with which they can be amongst us like normal humans?" Eli paused. This wasn't the first time he had had this thought, and it seemed like there was no solution. After a short sigh he continued. "However, after I program Destiny, the only problem left will be the question of how to hang on till the next galaxy. Theoretically it should be possible without stasis, but a whole year alone on this ship? I will go insane, honestly. I already do monologues. Dr. Franklin is no help at all. Well, rationed energy and food should suffice. I have to find another sol..."_

_A wild flickering of the lights interrupted Eli. Hastily he stood and looked around. "What was that?" he asked the empty air, but Dr. Franklin didn't appear so he had to get the answer by himself._

_The light calmed down again as he jogged to the interface control room. A short analysis showed him an energy spike, but luckily there seemed to be no damage. But what had been the source? The light flickered again. Another energy spike. Okay, that definitely wasn't good. _

_The ship's sensors located the source for the interruptions in the technical area, close to the FTL drive. He didn't like that, especially because this was a restricted area. There was a breach in the hull. Yet he had to take a look anyway, because this glitch could undo the whole plan. Within a short time he had fought his way into one of the space suits and was on his way to the other end of the ship, a remote in his hand and a kino by his side. It wasn't only creepy but also dangerous to be all alone in this area, but as long as he didn't want to wake one of the others he couldn't help it. He just had to be damned careful._

_One step after the other,_

_shut the door,_

_activate magnetic boots,_

_compensate pressure,_

_open door._

_In front of him stretched a long corridor with doors and branch-offs like many others on Destiny. But in the floor gaped a long rift with smoldering edges. Beneath the rift lay the flickering shields of Destiny and the light of the star._

_Obviously something had just collided with them and had broken through the shields. But what? On the other end of the corridor, where the rift got thinner and finally ended abruptly, lay something lay flickering on the floor. Apparently this was the source of the disruption. The sensory of the kino showed him, that it was still really hot in there and temperatures were sinking only slowly, though they were already in a range that was okay for the suit. So he walked carefully along the rift, intent on keeping contact with the floor._

_What was he doing here? This was so crackbrained. What if this thing gave off some kind of radiation that the suit wouldn't be able to block? What if this thing exploded any second now? Whatever it was. Or, what if it was some kind of alien technology?_

_Eli tried to calm down, and even managed to get a nearly clear head till he finally reached the strange object. It was about the size of a tennis ball and it glowed with a reddish light. To wreak havoc like this it had to have collided with an enormous speed and in a relatively flat angle._

_Slowly Eli stretched a hand in its direction. /Stupid idea, stupid idea, stupid idea, stupid…/ He could feel the heat even through the gloves of the suit. So touching wasn't an option at the moment. But before he could withdraw his hand the flickering became a blinding light and a burning pain went through his arm. Instantly he lost consciousness. _

_When he came to again it wasn't a slow waking but a sudden awareness of his surroundings. He lay on his back on the floor. His helmet lay beside him and he could breath freely. His hand and underarm burnet like fire, but he was still in the suit and couldn't see the actual damage. He just knew instinctively that the suit was useless now._

_Every attempt to move hurt unbelievably, so he gave that up. It couldn't do any harm to stay where he was. At least it didn't sound like Destiny was in any danger. The flickering of the lights had stopped. That was a good sign._

_Out of the corner of his eye he could see the kino. That was good, too, because so he could use it to find out later what happened and how he had managed to get safe. He was distracted from that thought when the reddish light appeared above him, this time softer and calmer. His first reaction was to withdraw from it. But aside from an intensive wave of pain he didn't gain much from it. So he tried to calm down und to study it. Whatever it was, at the moment he had no way of protecting himself against it._

_It didn't feel that hot anymore, though it was still radiating a great heat. But it was kind of comforting. It just seemed to float above him._

_Eli only lay there and did nothing while his body slowly relaxed. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but it must have been a while because he felt great hunger and thirst, now that his adrenalin had vanished. It might be a good idea after all to move and change that soon. He just had to get past this light. He didn't want to touch it again, no matter what. Again he tried to move and ignored the rising pain. Centimeter by centimeter he slid backwards, but the light followed him._

"_Great," Eli sighed, giving up on that attempt. Immediately the pain decreased._

"_I hope this is going to bore you soon because otherwise I have a real problem. I know I'm the first human you've met and this is all totally interesting – I find you interesting too – but could you maybe study me from over there?" Eli waved with his unharmed right hand in a vague direction. The light seemed to jump up and down for a moment, then it floated away a little bit. Eli watched it disbelievingly._

"_You understand me?" He didn't get a reaction from that. Okay, this was going to be fun. This was one of those moments where he really could have used help from someone else. But he would do this, exactly like he had done the last three weeks._

_Bit by bit he edged in the direction of the wall, till he finally could straighten up a little and lean against it._

"_But you reacted to something. Was it my hand?" He continued the onesided talk belatedly and under heavy breathing. To illustrate his words he raised his hand slowly and waved the light carefully closer. It instantly reacted and came alarmingly closer till Eli could feel it's warmth again._

"_Whoa, stop, stop. Don't touch. Touching is bad." He pinched his eyes shut, scared, but nothing happened. The light had just stopped right in front of him._

"_Okay, so that's settled. Ehm, you're no ascended being, are you? Sure, what would you do on the other end of the universe and I guess that they have better ways of communication and don't cook people medium rare. By the way, that really hurt dammit, but you didn't do it on purpose. At least that's what I assume. Hm, okay." Eli thought about getting out of the suit, but it was always a lot of work to get into it. Getting it off seemed impossible at the moment. Another point where he could have used some help. For now he would just sit here and hope that his energy would come back. He could use the time to find out more about his guest as well._

"_I wonder where you came from. Did you come out of the star or were you on your way in there? There is nothing else out here. Well, aside from Destiny at the moment. Did you collide with us on purpose or was it an accident? Do you have a name? To just call you 'light' is kinda boring." Eli considered it for a moment. It had to be something fitting and short. „You likely don't have a gender... hm... what do you think about Sidus? That's Ancient for star. After all, we picked you up in a star." Eli didn't expect an answer, which is why he was even more surprised when the steady light moved and started to form outlines. It took some moments but then he could identify himself. Sidus was copying his features._

"_I guess that's a yes?"_

_It moved it's lips, but no sound came out._

"_Frustrating, isn't it? But don't worry, it would be ridiculous if we weren't able to communicate. I really hope that you don't have anything bad in mind, but even if so, I couldn't do much about it, hm? But first I need something to drink and get out of this suit. There is no sense in waiting any longer, I guess." Eli took a deep breath and then fought to stand up with clenched teeth. Followed by Sidus and the kino, he started his seemingly endless way to the interface control room. There he had stashed water, food and stuff from the infirmary right from the start. He was endlessly thankful for that now, because it saved him the long trip. He just had to manage this one-way, and then he could lie down._

_Eli didn't know how often he had to pause and how long it really took him in the end, but when he reached his destination, he had cold sweat on his forehead and black dots were spotting his vision._

_His strength barely lasted long enough for him to reach his makeshift camp before he collapsed. Why waste energy on live support in the quarters when he spent most of his time here anyway? He might as well sleep here. Eli breathed deeply and watched through half closed eyes how Sidus flew in a circle around the room once._

"_Look, don't touch," Eli whispered weakly. Whatever Sidus was, he could interfere with the technology of Destiny. He had seen that much from the energy spikes and the flickering lights. Right at that moment wasn't a good time to find out what else Sidus could do to the systems. Upon careful consideration he decided he didn't want to find out at all, because it couldn't be anything good._

_Finally Eli managed to summon enough strength to grab the water bottle and guide it to his lips. Once he had started drinking, he couldn't stop till the bottle was empty. His body seemed to soak the fluid like a sponge. After that he wasn't able to stay awake any longer. He just fell asleep, while the bottle rolled out of his hand and came to a halt near the next console with a soft clunk._

_The first thing Eli felt when he next woke was tense. Sleeping in the suit hadn't really been a clever idea. Next he felt the pain in his burnt hand. He desperately needed to take care of that, even if he was horrified of taking a closer look. Pain killers surely wouldn't be a bad idea. Third, he needed to pee. All three things had one thing in common: he had to get out of the suit._

_It nearly took all of the strength he had collected during sleep to get that done, but when finally he was able to move freely again and didn't need to pee anymore, he felt a lot better, though the pain in his hand still seemed unbearable._

_The skin was heavily reddened from fingertips to elbow and here and there he could see small blisters. He wondered how he had been able to sleep at all with the pain. Maybe he had just been unconscious. That was even more likely._

_Hastily he went through the collection of drugs he had nicked from TJ's supplies. Luckily she had noted use and dosage in a small elegant script on everything. He swallowed one of the stronger things and hoped that it would work fast without disabling him again. After he had coated the burnt skin with a strange smelling but cooling paste and made a makeshift bandage, he started to chew on a dried fruit he had gotten from the sparse food supplies. Then he finally turned back to Sidus. He had been floating formlessly in the room the whole time and seemed to be doing nothing._

"_Hey there, I hope you haven't gotten bored." Eli waved him slowly over and Sidus followed the gesture. "What I did is called sleep and this is food." He gestured to the fruit. "I need to do this, to get my energy back."_

_Sidus took Eli's form again and moved it's lips. /Energy/ sounded the computer voice Eli had given Dr. Perry in the last weeks and Eli nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked around frantically and found the console he had used to talk to Dr. Perry. But he had already transferred her back into the mainframe and deleted all traces of her. This couldn't be Dr. Perry._

_/Communicate/ the voice sounded again while Sidus moved its replica of Eli's lips asynchronously. A beam spread in Eli's face. Obviously Sidus had used the time to gather some knowledge. In any case, it answered the question of wether Sidus was able to interact with the systems without blowing them. He pushed aside the thought that things could have gone terribly wrong._

"_Yes, communicating. That's great. Just wait a minute; I'll give you another voice, or else this will be too weird." Eli fished for the device and did some calibrations to choose another male voice pattern. Out of exuberance he forgot his harmed hand for a moment and strained it. He cursed indignantly and clenched his teeth. He would have to be damned careful in the next days._

_/Frequency disruption/ the new voice now sounded._

_Eli didn't understand the context of the word. "Can you illustrate that? I have no clue what you mean."_

_Out of the light appeared Eli's bandaged hand and Sidus copied Eli's pain-distorted face. /Frequency disruption./_

"_Pain. Yes, that hurts like hell. The human body isn't made for these kind of temperatures. But that will heal, I guess." Eli smiled confidently, though he wasn't sure about his last sentence. If it hadn't only been enormous heat but some kind of radiation too, he would be in real trouble soon. He was no doctor and had no clue what was happening in his body right now._

_The hand of light dissolved and Sidus's face went neutral again._

"_So, now that this is cleared, can you tell me what you are?"_

_/What you are/_

"_Yes." Eli thought about how to explain that. This was communication on a whole new level for him. Was that even possible? This could be fun._

_But 'fun' didn't describe it even close enough, Eli found out soon._

_The following days he recovered reasonably from his burns, and because he couldn't do much repairing one-handed he concentrated fully on communicating with Sidus. The energy being reacted to vibrations and vibration patterns, that much Eli understood already after the first few tries. Sidus was intelligent and learned fast. Nevertheless, their exchanges were frustratingly slow at the beginning._

_Eli gestured literally with hands and feeds, though his voice was the most effective, while Sidus projected pictures. Eli became a master of picture puzzles._

_Like this, little by little, he learned to know Sidus's story, like a puzzle. He came from the galaxy that lay before them, and he wasn't the only one of his kind. There had been many in his native star and he had never known anything else. Then he had collided with a spaceship, like what had happened with Destiny. There had been aliens, strange creatures, and Eli asked himself, if they were still there and if they would meet them._

_He didn't understand everything that happened after that, but at the end Sidus had been stranded in the wandering star. For how long was impossible to tell, because Sidus didn't seem to have a feeling for time like Eli knew it. But it must have been an eternity if the star hadn't left the galaxy at that point._

_Destiny was Sidus's only chance of ever getting back. So maybe the collision wasn't an accident after all. But Eli didn't resent him that. Now they were both here and while the days went by nearly unnoticed, they provided each other welcome company._

Chloe and Eli had talked a little, but after a while they had skipped to starring silently and tensed at the radio, in the hopes of getting some news. But the last news had been some time ago and it didn't look good. A sinking feeling spread in Eli's gut.

Suddenly Sidus appeared in his simple formless shape above the bed and Chloe flinched backwards. "What is that?"

"A friend," Eli replied, his gaze was fixed on the energy being. It was flickering nervously. "Sidus. What do you want to tell me?" Eli looked around but the console for communication wasn't here. "Can you show me?"

Sidus took the shape of Colonel Young's face, then the outlines blurred into a line, showing irregular amplitudes before it melted into a flat line.

"No," he whispered weakly when he realized what Sidus tried to tell him. "No!"

"What does that mean?" Chloe asked, but Eli ignored her.

Without regard to his injuries and his weakness he pulled the IV needle from his arm and stood, ignoring all pain. He was well-practiced with the latter by now.

Dizziness took over as Chloe tried to get him back into bed.

"You mustn't stand up. TJ had…"

"I have to get to the gate room!"

"You shall not stand up."

"I have to get to the gate room right now," Eli snubbed at her, the panic he was feeling clear in his voice. He didn't have time for explanations right now.

She paused, but then she nodded and helped him up. Sidus followed them through the empty corridors till they reached the gate room. Everyone gathered there was starring at the floor, where Colonel Young lay motionless. TJ was kneeling beside him, one hand pressed to her mouth as if fighting something within herself.

Eli stumbled and drew everyone's attention to himself. He had to look horrible. That he knew without a mirror. The next moment he heard the clicking sound of the rifles.

"Don't shoot," Chloe shouted, and Eli was grateful for that, because he could concentrate on only one thing right now. He only had strength left to walk the last steps over to Colonel Young. Directly beside TJ he fell to his knees and breathed heavily. The Colonel looked so pale, his eyes closed and his lips blue. The cold literally radiated off of him and was a painful contrast to the heat he was used to from Sidus by now.

"Eli… you shouldn't… It's too late, he was too long… I couldn't…" TJ was visibly shaken, her breath tremulous, hardly able to end her sentences, which wasn't like her at all.

"It's okay, let me try it."

"What…?"

Sidus came closer and floated above the Colonel. Eli smiled tiredly at him, while the light changed into a reflection of himself. Meanwhile, Eli took comfort from seeing Sidus like this, even if it sometime made him feel as if he was only talking to himself- that he had just imagined everything and lost his sanity.

"Go. I don't want to hurt you." Eli smiled shortly at TJ and concentrated on Sidus again. Slowly he unwrapped the bandages from his hand. It hurt and soon it would hurt even more, but if this worked, it would be worth it. Then he would do everything for it. If it didn't work, it wouldn't matter anyway, because then he wouldn't be able to feel any pain anymore at all.

When the bandages were finally off his hand he extended both his hands to Sidus, who unexpectedly withdrew, his face turning into a grimace. "I know, but there is no other way. You can control it, I saw it. So help me now. Help me please!" Eli begged, and Sidus flickered, agitated.

He made a gesture Eli understood immediately. The promise. Sidus had learned so well. „Yes, I didn't forget that. I will hold to it, no matter what happens. But please, help me now." Eli was still holding his hands up and finally, slowly, Sidus copied the gesture. Their hands intertwined with each other, melted into each other, and then Sidus shape vanished.

The burning pain seemed to distort nearly every thought and the blackness gnawing at his consciousness was overpowering, but Eli fought against it. He concentrated on laying a hand at the side of Young's throat, where his pulse should have been, while the other went to rest on Young's stomach. The skin was icy cold and there was no sign of a heartbeat.

Then he closed his eyes. He didn't want to see Young's lifeless face and his hands, which were burning under Sidus's touch. Not the horrified faces of the others.

Blood was rushing in his ears and his own heartbeat raced. How long would his body stand this kind of stress? He had to calm down, had to concentrate, had to block the pain. He needed Sidus's energy, had to collect it, guide it, give it a task. Even if the aliens in Sidus's stories had been totally different from humans, they had still looked as though made of flesh and blood. This just had to work. There was no way back now.

By the gods, let it work, Eli prayed voicelessly.

He felt the heat from Sidus's fire flowing through his veins suddenly flash from his hands and over to Young, at first hesitantly, then more greedily.

Come back. We do need you here.

The body seemed to lay motionless for an eternity, an empty, lifeless shell. But then, suddenly, he could feel it, a vibration, only short, like the wing beat of a little bird. Then another vibration, irregular, and another one. A stumble and another vibration that merged into a weak rhythm. And finally the body under Eli's hands rose in a deep continuing breath.

With a feeling of ease Eli gave into the pain and lost his consciousness instantly.


	3. The lost star 3 of 3

The first thing Eli noticed when he came to was quiet voices. Slowly he managed to open his eyes and look sideways. He was in the infirmary again, and in the bed next to him sat Young, who was talking to Rush. It wasn't natural that those two were talking to each other calmly like this.

Eli smiled involuntarily. It was a nice sight. The painful burn, which he was used to by now, distracted him from it. He looked down and realized that both hands were now bandaged. This was definitely impractical. Hopefully they would heal soon, though after his experiences that was wishful thinking.

„Eli." His movement had obviously attracted the attention of both men.

"Hey. You're okay." Relief sounded in his voice.

Young nodded. "Yes, thanks to you, as I've heard."

Eli shrugged his shoulders weakly. There wasn't much to reply to that. All the doubts that it wouldn't work didn't matter now. His look wandered to Young's neck. "What's that?" he asked, gesturing to the white bandages.

„Nothing really."

„That's a burn in the shape of a right hand," Rush answered dryly, interrupting Young's elusive words.

"Oh." Shocked, Eli realized what Rush was aiming for. "I didn't want that. I'm so…"

"Don't even dare to apologize, Eli! You brought me back from death, for which a minor burn is a small price to pay. And besides, yours are much worse."

Eli sighed, resigned, but still felt a little guilty. It wasn't like he had brought back the man from death. If Young had been really dead, even Eli hadn't been able to do anything. All they had had was damned luck.

Rush broke the ensuing silence. "So, the light…"

"Sidus."

"Ancient for star?"

Eli nodded. „That's where he came from, and I refuse to call him Stella. Anyway, shortly after Destiny left the star where we refilled, Sidus collided with her. He broke through the shields and impacted in a separated technical section. Where you found me, Colonel."

"So, the rift in the hull was caused by him?" Young asked and Eli nodded again.

"Yes, but that wasn't on purpose. Really." Most likely. Eli kept his suspicions about that better to himself. It didn't matter.

"Like the burns too?" Rush added.

"He was confused and he didn't know that this would happen so easily. I was careless. He isn't bad, really."

"But he can't stay here, Eli. Especially when everyone is awake again. A being like this doesn't belong on board." Rush looked seriously at Eli.

"I know. He won't stay much longer. He is only still here because of the promise."

"What promise?" Colonel Young shot Eli a skeptical look.

"That we'll bring him back to his native star. It's more or less on our way. I found it in the data from the seed ships and it shouldn't take long till we reach it. In the meantime he'll stay invisible… unless there are any problems? How long was I unconscious anyway?" By the end Eli had become unsure and silent.

"No, no one had seen him…" Rush started but was interrupted.

"You were unconscious about 28 hours." TJ had come in unnoticed and was looking reproachfully at both older men. "And Colonel Young woke just before you. So you two should rest and drink up. You are both dehydrated."

TJ put two bowls on a small table between the beds and went straight to Eli. "How do you feel?" She lay her hand on his forehead and then felt carefully for a pulse at his neck, as his wrists weren't available at the moment.

"I'm fine."

"An honest answer, please."

Eli sighed. "This burns like hell, I'm hot, and I feel like shit."

"That sounds more realistic. You have a fever, which is no wonder. I will bring you something cool." She pressed one of the bowls she'd brought with her into Young's hands, the other into Rush's.

"I'm not hungry," Rush said irritated.

"Well, it's not for you, but for Eli. He won't be touching anything in the near future with his hands the way they are. Make yourself useful."

Rush seemed appalled, but had no time to make a reply, because Young took a skeptical look into his bowl. "What is this?"

"The animal that tried to kill you. Varro is about to process it. At least one good thing came out of this chaos. Eat up, Colonel, and Eli; you eat slowly but as much as you're able to. You managed to starve yourself straight to nothingness in those few weeks." She shook her head disapprovingly and left the room.

All three watched after her, till Eli said shortly: "Sometimes she scares me."

"That's her job. With stubborn patients like us she has to be able to make her point," Young replied dryly as he started to eat. Eli watched him and then looked to Rush. The man countered the look darkly.

"I will get Chloe…"

"You will not. Let the others sleep. The last planet cost everyone's strength, not to mention the last galaxy."

Rush starred darkly at Young and went over to Eli. With surprising gentleness he helped the boy to sit up a little and lean against a couple of pillows before he himself sat on a chair beside the bed. After that everything that was heard for a while was the clanking sound of cutlery against metal bowls.

Eli ate slowly, and by the time Young was already putting his empty bowl aside and drinking something, he hadn't even managed half of his portion. The whole time he had avoided looking at Rush directly; concentrating instead on the spoon. He lacked the strength for anything more. As Rush sank the spoon into the bowl again, Eli shook his head weakly. "I'm full, thanks."

Rush put the bowl wordlessly aside and held a bottle of water to Eli's lips. Eli gulped some before that became too much as well. The depressed silence weighed heavily on the mood, so he searched for a topic that could distract them. "Did you already contact Earth?"

"Yes. Naturally, they were surprised to hear from us. And I should have given a detailed report of our current situation some hours ago."

"Could I go too? I would like to see my mom." Destiny's simulations hadn't really helped him, on the contrary, they had only intensified his worried thoughts about his mother.

Eli sank tiredly deeper into the pillows and Rush helped him again wordlessly.

"At the moment that's not a good idea. You are seriously injured."

"And I'll take forever to heal. I just would like to say hello to her. Whoever swaps with me only has to lie around and do nothing."

"Let's wait and see what TJ has to say about it, okay?"

"TJ says that neither of you is leaving this room at the moment, neither physically nor mentally. Send Greer or Scott for the report."

The medic had come back into the room and obviously had caught the last words of their conversation. She shooed Rush aside and lay a cool cloth on Eli's forehead.

Eli let it happen, resigned. At the moment he couldn't do anything else besides lie there. That was frustrating.

TJ smiled briefly. „Get some sleep. When the fever is gone, we will talk about the swap again, okay?"

Eli nodded gratefully and closed his eyes unwillingly. But he hadn't the strength to keep his eyelids open any longer.

„And you, Dr. Rush, will go and sleep now too. I don't need any more patients around here," was the last thing he heard before he drifted off.

It took four days till Eli's fever sank to a normal temperature again. In the meantime he just slept, and on TJ's urging ate and drank regularly. Chloe had given him company most of the time and distracted him, while Rush had made himself scarce, pretending to be busy; but Eli had the feeling he was just afraid he would have to play nurse again.

They had gotten more people out of stasis, so they were about twenty now. But as long as their supplies went without restocking, they would have to wait to wake the rest of the crew.

The days went by calmly. They analyzed their new surroundings, made a list of necessary repairs and the materials they would need to complete them, and just recovered as much as they could from the fights they had behind them.

Scott had brought a short report of their status to Earth, and those who were awake had taken the chance to say hello to their loved ones, as far as they had the clearance.

Chloe had been on Earth, too, and had just come back from her second visit. While she held out a spoon of undefined mush to Eli she told him about the meeting with her mom. "First, she didn't believe that it was me, because we had said three years at the least. But then she was totally happy. She is so alone in this big house. Martha, our housekeeper, is a kind soul, but she can't help my mother at this point." Chloe smiled sadly. "When will you go to Earth?" she asked.

Eli chewed dully on his mush, even though there wasn't anything to chew.

"As soon as I can." He shrugged his shoulders and cast a meaningful look at Young. He still was in the bed beside Eli, against his will.

With his injures he had no chance of being released by TJ. He didn't seem used to doing nothing, or at the very least he didn't like it. He seemed restless and cranky.

Chloe followed Eli's look and turned to Young. "Maybe you should both go now? It would be good for you."

"My fever is gone," Eli commanded instantly. He was slowly nearing insanity. Unlike Young, he could stand up and walk around, even if it wasn't for long as he still lacked the strength, but he still couldn't use his hands, and that was unbearable for him.

"If we go to Earth you will be interviewed extensively."

"I already thought about that. But if we go there without warning, they have to round up everyone first, don't they? In the meantime I can visit my mom. I know you don't want to go that badly, but you could walk." Eli grinned when Young quickly gave up his defenses.

Finally he nodded. „Okay, if TJ says yes, we'll go."

Half an hour later they were actually ready for a visit to Earth, the communications device standing between them on the table. Young went first, and then Eli touched one of the stones and waited for someone on the other end to activate the connection. It only took a couple of seconds before he found himself in another body. It had to be a scientist, because he wasn't wearing BDUs. For a moment, Eli felt guilty, because this man was now in his injured body, but he shook it off. TJ could give him sleeping pills and painkillers, and in a couple of hours he would be back.

"Eli?" Another scientist stood before him and looked at him questioningly, in a stance that didn't seem right for his body and reminded him strongly of Young. So a body really was the mirror of the soul.

"Yes, Colonel Young?" Eli received a short nod and stood. The faster he got out of there, into the fresh air, under the free sky, even if it was raining cats right now, the better he would be.

They followed a guard to an office and entered it. It was Colonel Telford, who was sitting on the other side of the desk and skimming through some papers.

"David," Young greeted shortly. The man stood immediately.

"Everett, is that really you? Mister Wallace. General O'Neill had informed me of your sudden appearance, but I hardly believed it. We expected you earlier after your last report."

Eli returned the greeting in his direction with a short nod and left the talking to Young. He used the time to take a closer look at the Colonel. He hadn't changed much in the last three years. He just looked tired and had some scratches on his forehead, half covered by his hair line. They looked fresh.

"Like Lt. Scott reported earlier, there was a small incident when we refilled our water supplies. That held us back. Mister Wallace and I are still at the infirmary and can't stay to long. How fast can you arrange a meeting?"

"A meeting? With whom?"

„With everyone who is in charge of the project right now. Investors, politicians… you know."

Telford looked confused. „Some hours at least. It depends on who is where at the moment."

"Good, then arrange it. Mister Wallace wants to see his mother in the meantime. Would that be possible?"

"Sure. You know the procedure. We will provide you with a driver."

Telford took the phone and gave some curt orders.

When Eli and Young left the office a short time later, they were approached by a young man, who introduced himself as Eli's driver.

"What will you do in the meantime?" Eli asked quietly as they walked to the elevators.

"I don't know yet."

Eli didn't answer immediately. As they were on their way to the first floor, Eli shrugged his shoulders and said, "Come with me. There's a small quiet park near my house. You can rest there and walk around or do nothing and afterwards we can drive back together. After everything that happened I can't imagine you want to stay here. Enjoy the fresh air or whatever."

"That's not necessary," Young replied shortly, and Eli looked at him inquiringly. In the time aboard the Destiny he had actually learned to read people's faces; after all the company was limited and sifting through his documentary material had taught him a lot. Even if this wasn't Colonel Young's face, he knew the expression.

"Yes, it is," he said simply when they left the elevator. "Take it as a favor, and I'll owe you one. At the moment there really is nothing important to do, right?"

Young raised an eyebrow and gazed intensely at Eli, but he only returned the look calmly. "If anything, I owe you one, Eli."

"Great, follow me." With a triumphant smile the young man followed the guard. He didn't have to see to know Young rolled his eyes, or hear to know how he sighed quietly. Yes, he had definitely watched them to often and had far too much time to think about it.

They walked out into a comfortingly warm and sunny afternoon. Eli stopped abruptly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No matter how often he imagined it or how much light he got from the stars, nothing could replace this.

"Come on, Eli," Young called after giving him a moment. He had passed him and was already some steps ahead with the guard. Eli nodded and caught up. He wanted to see his mother, and he could enjoy this at her place too.

The ride in the black SUV went quietly. Now and then Eli asked some questions from the backseat to their driver about immaterial things, like what was happening on Earth, but most of the time Eli was lost in thought, already with his mother. Young, in the front seat, said nothing.

Luckily it didn't take long till they arrived. Young and Eli got out, and the driver stayed in the car. "The park is down the street, hard to miss." Eli gestured along the way, bordered left and right by small family homes.

"Take your time, Eli- you've earned it."

"Hm." Eli shrugged his shoulders in embarrassment and watched Young leave. Then he walked the few meters to the front door and rang with a beating heart. Why was he so nervous? Was his mother even at home? He didn't know her work schedule. He should have called first...

The door opened before he could finish the thought, though it wasn't his mother standing there but a small boy maybe nine or ten years old with short, wild blonde hair.

"Yes?" he asked suspiciously, obviously a little intimidated by standing in front of a stranger. Eli was too surprised to react for some seconds. He definitely hadn't mistaken the address, but had his mother moved? No, the Air Force would have known.

"Ehm, hey there, I'm looking for Miss Wallace? She is still living here, isn't she?"

The little munchkin turned away. "Mooooooom, it's for you!" he called through the house, and Eli's heart stopped dead. Mom? What the hell was going on? He had only been out of contact for two years!

A few moments later his mother appeared in the door, followed by the aroma of fresh cookies. She looked at him, confused, and let her gaze wander to the typical black car behind him, uncertainty showing in her eyes.

"It's me," Eli said quietly, choking down on the 'mom' in the last second, because the boy was still standing next to them.

"Eli?" she replied as quietly. He nodded, and she embraced him fiercely and breathlessly. God, but he had missed his mother. The real and true person, not the projection of the ship.

After a while she released him, her eyes slightly wet. "Come in. You have perfect timing. I have cookies in the oven."

„But they're mine," the boy protested next to them, reminding them of his presence.

"Don't worry, Aaron, I think there are enough for everyone and…" She gave Eli a questioning look.

"Marcus," he helped out hastily, still irritated by having to introduce himself with a strangers name.

"Marcus is a friend of my son Eli. He loves my cookies as well. Be nice and go finish your homework. As soon as the cookies are done I'll call you."

Aaron gave Eli another suspicious look, then vanished upstairs.

They walked through to the kitchen, which looked just like he remembered it. Light, friendly and tidy, though his mother was baking. From the radio in the corner quiet music sounded. Eli sat at the table while his mother got him a Coke. As she sat next to him he took a deep gulp, but couldn't quiet enjoy the taste. These were things from daily life, habits that seemed to be a life time away.

The silence between them started to get uncomfortable.

"Is it really you?" his mother asked as she wrung her hands nervously.

"Yes, yes, it's me. Thanks to some unexpected events we were able to reach our destination quicker." Eli smiled reassuringly. He hated not being able to tell her everything, because despite the clearance, there were things he wasn't allowed to say. But at the same time it was a relief that he had to stay vague and that he was in a strangers uninjured body, because he didn't want his mother to see him like he was now.

"Who was that?" Eli gestured vaguely upstairs, and a hesitant smile appeared on his mother's face.

"That's Aaron. I… have met his father last year, Henry. He is great and... they've lived here for some months now. Henry is at work right now. I know this is all quite sudden for you, but…" She stopped and gave Eli an unsure look. He didn't quite know what to say. "And do you want to marry him, or…" Yes, or what? There wasn't much left if they already had moved in. So his mother had a new family.

„We're not that far along, but it's nice to have them around the house."

Eli could imagine this. His mother must have been lonely all alone in this big house.

"Are you happy?" he finally asked. The same question his mother had asked him weeks, years ago; and she seemed to remember.

"Yes Eli, I am. I'm happy with Aaron and Henry and knowing you are well. Only truly having you back, the real you, would make me more happy."

"That's good." Eli smiled, again relieved that she couldn't really see him right now. No, he wouldn't tell her how bad he felt, that would only make her worry, and he didn't want that.

A small kitchen alarm in the corner rang suddenly and his mother stood to get the cookies out of the oven. Eli followed her and looked at the baking tray. Chocolate chip cookies. His favorite. As if she had known that he would come. Or maybe it was just a coincidence, because everyone loved her cookies, Aaron apparently included. Something they had in common, Eli thought, confused. What else did they have in common? Would he be able to find out on his own? Most likely not, with the way things were at the moment.

"I have to go back." Eli found it uncomfortable being there, and that made him feel insecure. He had to process this new information first.

"Already?" His mother looked at him confusedly, and he tried to smile.

"Yes, there is much to do. I just wanted to say that I'm… back. Next time I'll have more time, promised." He embarrassed her, and in comparison to this strange tall body she seemed even smaller, and that made the wrongness of the situation even clearer.

"Wait a minute." She pulled away, got a small paper bag from the cupboard, and put some of the still-steaming cookies in it. "For the ride."

"Thank you." Eli smiled for her, even if it was a little hard now. After another short embrace he said good bye and walked out to the car. He didn't turn, didn't look back, just got into the car, the warm paper bag held tightly in his hand.

"Done?" the driver asked. Eli nodded shortly and gestured down the street. "The park where Colonel Young went is in that direction. When we've collected him, we can go back."

They only had to drive a couple of meters to reach their goal. Eli indicated for the man to wait in the car and got out himself. The park wasn't that big and about this time of day there were only a few dog owners still hanging around. He quickly located Young, who was sitting on a bench, his gaze directed at a pond. Eli sat silently beside him, the paper bag still in his hand. Small spots from the melted chocolate had started to show on the surface.

"That was fast," Young said after a while, giving Eli a short look. He shrugged his shoulders. "The timing was inconvenient." To distract himself, he got a cookie out of the bag and took a bite. Even if this wasn't his own body and everything felt kind of wrong, the cookies still tasted heavenly. Without thinking he held the bag out to Young, who looked at him skeptically.

"Take one already. You won't get some this good anywhere else, and soon we'll be back on Destiny with alien vegetables and meat of animals that don't even have a name. So help yourself."

Young gave in and took one. Eli watched him from the corner of his eye. The older man really seemed tired, because at the moment he was giving in far too easily to his pleas. On the other hand, he had only asked for small things, nothing impossible. It just was odd to see the Colonel like this.

Any way, he seemed to enjoy the cookie after his initial skepticism, but everyone on Destiny would have, Eli thought. He wondered how Young's own face would look in a moment like this.

"They gave up on us, didn't they?" Eli asked abruptly, to distract himself from his own thoughts.

"How did you get that idea?"

"It's mostly obvious. If they were working on our problem, the committee and whoever else would already be around. After all, you showed up some days ago and the others have already given their reports. But Telford has to round them up now. And somehow everything seemed so quiet. They were about to forget us because it's more comfortable. The world goes on without us."

"Don't say something like that, Eli." Young rubbed his face, and the tiredness and seriousness of the Colonel became even more evident.

"It's just the truth." Eli stood up and placed himself directly in front of Young, his hands on his hips. "But I surely won't give up because of that. We're the ones who found the way to Destiny and we'll be the ones who'll find the way back. Us, together. Rush and me, the whole gang, and you and all the others aboard the Destiny. We'll come back home, no matter how long it takes. It worked with the seed ship, and maybe we'll find another one. It had worked within a star, even with some catastrophic side effects." He still felt guilty because of that, even if the meeting with their descendants had made it easier. "Surely there are more options out there we just haven't discovered yet. We'll find a way." Eli held a hand out to Young, full of optimism and determination. The Colonel took it and came to his feed feeling mare energetic.

"Yes, we will. Let's go home."

Back on Destiny, it took Eli a moment to get used to the constant pain in his own body again. Young had to feel the same, but he didn't show it. After all he wasn't in this position for the first time. TJ and Greer were with them.

"Colonel?"

"Yes TJ, it's us. Did something happen?"

„No sir, everything is quiet. The two you swapped with just lay here and suffered by themselves.

"Scientists," Greer mumbled quietly, but loud enough for them to hear.

"How was it on Earth?" TJ asked, the corners of her mouth twitching lightly. Those two must have been total wimps. But the injuries weren't harmless, so it wasn't their fault.

"Calm. We will have a meeting with the committee in about sixteen hours, and then we'll know what's next. But at the bottom line is there's nothing new. What are Rush and the others doing?"

"Still analyzing and repairing stuff. It's going smoothly so far. Eli?" TJ turned directly to him. „Dr. Rush said we will reach the star you programmed soon..."

"Oh, how long?"

"About three hours," TJ replied after a short look at her watch.

Eli nodded and sank deeper under his covers. He should be happy about it, but he had become used to Sidus so much that a part of him didn't want to let him go. Or, no- it wasn't the habit, not really. It was the time he had survived with the energy being at his side. Thanks to that, a connection had formed between them he didn't want to relinquish, no matter how strange that sounded.

Young sent Greer and TJ away, and silence stretched between them. Eli was so deep in thought that he was a little startled when Young spoke again. "You like him?"

"Yes, a lot," Eli replied quietly, closing his eyes as he turned away. He was so tired from all the things that had happened.

Young didn't say anything else, and Eli drifted off till the unmistakable feeling of falling out of FTL alarmed him. When he opened his eyes, Sidus was floating beside him.

"You can feel it, can't you?" He smiled, and the light took the shape of his reflection. "Soon you'll be there. Soon you'll be with your own kind again." Hastily, Eli turned away and was confronted by Young's calm, piercing gaze. Eli didn't say anything but straightened and fought his way out of bed. He had to fight against some dizziness because he had been lying to long already, waiting till his circulation had adjusted. At that instant Rush, TJ, Chloe and Scott came in.

"Eli, you shouldn't just get up yet," TJ admonished immediately, but Eli waved off her words.

"I'm fine. If I stay lying down any longer I'll go insane. Aside from that..." He broke off and looked over his shoulder to Sidus, who was shapeless again, still floating next to the bed. "Aside from that I can hardly say good bye lying down. How much longer?"

"About an hour. We got out of FTL really close to the star, but we will only graze it. It's damned hot and we get the same energy readings as those of your friend."

"Yes, hot and big and full of life," Eli said to Sidus, and smiled tiredly at him.

Eli stared at the closed door. Behind it was the damaged section where he had found Sidus. He would have preferred to do this alone, but Young had insisted that Scott and Greer accompany him. Both stood some steps behind him and waited while he said good bye. He really shouldn't make such a big affair of this. A simple "bye, take care' would be enough, but it wasn't easy for him. He couldn't even touch or embrace him for parting, as much as he would have liked to.

Sidus stood before him as his reflection from head to toe and waited to finally be free again. Eli gulped and raised both hands before himself as if he would press them against a glass pane. Sidus copied the gesture, but maintained his distance.

"I thank you for everything you did for us… for me. I won't forget you. Now go to the others, you're home again."

Eli let his arms fall and took a step back, while Sidus remained a bit longer. Then the silhouette melted first into Rush and then Young before it vanished completely and only a floating sphere of light was left. Eli felt a heavy sting in his chest when he walked back even farther and Sidus vanished through the door.

Endless minutes went by and Eli didn't move, just waited. Finally Rush's voice sounded from Scott's radio. "It's gone. The energy signature has moved away from the ship. As soon as we have enough distance from the star we'll go back into FTL."

"Scott here, understood, thank you."

Silence spread between them, and now that they had done what they had come for, it was rather uncomfortable.

"We should go back," Scott said after a while, and Eli nodded, but didn't move.

"Are you okay, Eli?"

He nodded again, but they both knew he wasn't.

"Come on, Eli, you're still not well yet." Scott directed him gently through the corridor and Eli let himself be guided without resistance. Back in the infirmary, he holed up under his covers wordlessly, put his earplugs in with clenched teeth, and ignored everyone else. He couldn't take their questions and looks right now.

Hours later he found himself on Earth again with Colonel Young and Dr. Rush. He had swapped with someone different this time. When would it finally stop? They sat at a big conference table together with a dozen people who all seemed to be somehow important. He only knew General O'Neill and Colonel Telford. The others had been introduced as scientists, members of the IOA and the Air Force, and a senator and his assistant. Eli hadn't even tried to remember their names. Did the senator know that his predecessors had suffered an untimely death?

Eli tried to concentrate on the conversation, but other things were going through his head. And as unfriendly as they were, he had no desire to answer their questions. He had written everything important in his report twenty-four hours ago, and they were asking the same questions over and over again, as if he was a criminal in an interrogation. The representative of the IOA was annoying him especially, and finally, Eli decided he had had enough.

"What the hell do you actually want from me?" he eventually interrupted in the middle of the man's sentence, surprising even himself. "I wrote down what happened, what you have to know. Do you think it will change if you rephrase your questions a hundred times? What are you aiming for? We are out there, we are awake, and we are fighting to get back home while you sit on your asses and do nothing. If you want to do something then say so, if not; say it, so we don't have to waste our time here any longer."

„Eli!"

„Mr. Wallace!" he was reprimanded by Young and O'Neill simultaneously. Rush, who had been mostly silent till now, spoke up before someone else could. "Gentleman, please. Mr. Wallace has, in an admittedly very undiplomatic way, brought the matter to a point. As wayward and impulsive as his actions have been, the result is the same: we are here. So please, let's talk about your next steps."

Eli sank back into his chair, embarrassed. Thankfully the conversation didn't focus on him any longer. He threw unobtrusive looks to Rush and Young. The face of the Colonel was neutral and didn't reveal anything, while the corner of Rush's mouth twitched suspiciously. For a moment, he could see the scientist in the strangers face. According to his evaluation Rush had liked Eli's embarrassing outburst, even if it had been childish.

The conversation seemed to go on forever. They discussed scientific and technical matters, the funding, the activities of the Alliance and the situation in the Pegasus galaxy. Even considering they weren't under as much pressure as they had been two years ago, the problems still remained. No supplies from Earth, no return from Destiny. They could only go on and on and make the best of it.

After the meeting was finally over, Rush and Eli went back to the stones to get back to Destiny. Young stayed behind, obviously to discuss something. Eli looked worriedly back. He was sorry for his outburst, even if it had only been the truth.

"Don't think about it, Eli," Rush said, who had noticed his look and interpreted it right.

"I was totally out of line. How am I supposed to not think about it?"

"It may not have been ideal, but the ends sometimes justify the means." The amused twitch in Rush's lips became more evident. At least one person was on his side. But would Colonel Young see it the same way? Surely he was not as disappointed as he had looked.

A couple of days had went by. Thanks to the amount of food they had recently found on a planet, their supplies had been refilled. All crewmembers had been woken from stasis and daily life had returned aboard the Destiny. They had been working feverishly on rebuilding the hydroponics. Repairs were being made around the clock on the ship. Young had made a speech about their situation in the gate room: that they still couldn't return home, and the end of their journey wasn't in sight. The stones were in constant use while the crew visited Earth and scientific personal helped out on board. Destiny continued its journey without incidents.

Eli was released from the infirmary for some time now, even if his hands still weren't fully healed and his food consumption was under TJ's constant control. The loosening skin itched unbelievably, and when he touched something warm, his nerves still send out waves of pain. But it had gotten bearable and he finally could do a lot of things by himself. He wore the bandages only during the daytime, when he was in the control room with the others and doing analyses and calculations. He was useless at any manual labor. At night when he was alone in his quarters and missing Sidus he went through his recordings, giving the skin time to breathe.

He nearly didn't sleep because he was incessantly followed by dreams which woke him again and again. He was tired, unfocused, restless. How long till they would notice? Rush already threw him skeptical looks, exactly like TJ. But TJ hadn't been on Earth during his outburst. She was just a medic and knew what to look for.

Sighing, Eli took a look around. He stood in an empty, half-dark corridor. It was late at night and he had started to walk around when he couldn't stand to be in his quarters any longer. At this time, no one aside from the guards and the scientists of the night shift was around. Therefore, he and the omnipresent kino seldom met anyone. But exploring the ship, whose accessible sections he knew almost by heart, didn't distract him nearly enough from his circling thoughts. Rather, the thoughts distracted him from his way, so he had to orient himself anew now and then to get his bearings.

There were so many thoughts in his head. His mother, who was living her life on Earth and had found a new family. He knew that she wasn't trying to replace him, but it still bugged him.

A bright light appeared at the end of the corridor and Eli's heart beat faster. 'Sidus' was his first thought, but then he heard the steps and he knew the light had nothing to do with the starbeing. It only was a flashlight. Would it be always like this? Would every lightsource in the dark remind him of Sidus's absence?

"Eli, what are you doing here?" Young sounded surprised.

Here? Where was here? Eli looked around, taking in his surroundings. The sleeping quarters. Young's quarters to be accurate. How had he come here again? He looked questioningly at the kino, but it didn't answer. The recordings would do that later. Then he looked over to Young again, but stayed silent.

"Eli?"

He shrugged his shoulders and stared at his hands. His horrible hands, which would be scarred for a long time. Young followed his gaze.

"Eli, are you alright? Shall I call TJ?"

„No. Yes... I mean, yes, everything is fine," Eli stammered. He didn't want to talk to TJ now. Why of all places had he walked here? After all, the ship was big enough. "I should…" Eli paused, unsure of what he should be doing. Why was it so hard to think straight?

Young walked to his door, opened it, and gestured for Eli to follow, who did so uncertainly. With the typical fizzling and clicking the door closed behind them.

"You look tired. Don't you have the early shift? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Eli shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea how late it was. Was it even worth it to lie down now? "And you? Why are still awake?" Eli asked to distract from himself. He absolutely had to arrange his thoughts. It had been a stupid idea to follow the invitation.

"Meeting took longer than expected. Sit down." Young gestured over to the couch which was standing in his roomy quarters, and Eli wondered if it was a good idea to sit down now. The tiredness as overpowering. If he succumbed to it the dreams would come back. No, not a good idea.

A strange silence spread, which Young finally broke when he sat down himself, leaving enough space next to him in the case Eli would decide eventually to follow the invitation.

"You look tired. When is the last time you really slept?"

Yes, when had that been? Surely not in the last few nights. When he had been with TJ at the infirmary, it had been more exhaustion and unconsciousness than sleep. During the time with Dr. Perry and Sidus? No, never sleeping, hadn't been able to. Must have been before the stasis, long before the stasis.

"Eli? You shouldn't do that."

Confused, Eli followed Young's gesture with his gaze. He had started unconsciously pulling at the skin on his hands. No, he shouldn't do that, it would slow the healing, deepen the scars. He hastily let his hands fall to his side where they twitched lightly, as if they had their own life.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to get TJ?"

"Yes, absolutely sure. I… I'm only…" He started to pace through the room, and as if that had been the starting signal, everything bubbled out of him by itself. He found that he couldn't stop, and he just had to keep going, not thinking about what he was saying, just talking. Not that it mattered anyway.

"Everything is so confusing. I'm tired, so tired that I sometimes don't even know what to do, but I just can't sleep, not really. The time after I first woke up… do you know how long I was really alone? Nine weeks! But it seemed like an eternity to me.

I had been busy with repairs and there was Dr. Perry and after that Sidus and sometimes Franklin and my mom, too, but… they weren't really there. More than once I had the urge to free Ginn, use the stones, get the others out of stasis. But I couldn't do that, and everything is so bleary. At the beginning it didn't bother me. There was so much to do, but after a while…I lost my feeling for time, didn't know what was real. And it was so cold on the ship, because life support was at minimum. Sidus kept me warm, but I couldn't touch him, not really. One time I was so out of it, that I actually tried it. Even though I knew what would happen." Eli raised his left hand, which had already been burned before the incident in the gate room and had now visibly deeper marks. "It brought me back to reality, made me think straight again, and shortly after that I found the spare pods. I don't know how much longer I would have been able to make it. And now? Now we are here and those people back on Earth have put us on ice, my mom has a new family, and everything is back to normal here, only it isn't.

If I try to sleep and wake up alone, everything from that time comes back. I forget where I am, lose my orientation, and I get so frightened that I sometimes think I'm still alone there and losing my sanity. That all of you are only a hallucination from Destiny. Nobody there to touch…"

Eli was talking faster and faster, with a rough, shaky voice, and was now breathing heavily. He abruptly stopped his pacing when Young appeared right in front of him.

When had the man stood up and stepped over to him?

"Why didn't you say something earlier? To TJ, or Camille… Miss Armstrong… or anybody else on the ship for that matter?"

"What would I've said to them? 'Mathboy needs some cuddling or else he's gonna lose his shit and becomes useless?' That someone has to hold my hand because I'm afraid of the dark?" Eli sounded bitter. He realized that his anger was inappropriate and so he winced when Young raised a hand. But the only thing that happened was a soft touch at his forehead. Cool fingers on too-hot skin. And the contact was real. He was so tense, so pent-up on adrenalin. All his senses were fixed exclusively on that contact.

"You're running a fever again, Eli." Young didn't pull his hand away, but ran his fingers along Eli's temple to his cheek down to his cervical artery, leaving a cool trace. Eli could feel his own racing pulse under the slight pressure.

Hastily he turned his gaze away, searching for a point in the room to fix on and finally ending up on Young's neck, on the reddish imprint, which showed partly under the collar of his BDUs.

"I'm so sorry, all of this…" Eli raised a hand, but paused a few inches before contact. He just couldn't touch someone with these hands.

"Eli, you saved my life. I already told you, that this…"

"None of this ever would have happened if I hadn't deciphered the code on Icarus. Nothing would have happened because we would have evacuated to another planet." He had had more than enough time to think about it. Even if he didn't regret the adventures, everything he had experienced… the price, the lives lost, had been to much, far too much.

"Eli. This really isn't your fault. You know that, don't you?" Young lay his free hand over Eli's and pulled it to himself till it touched his neck and and Eli could feel Young's calm pulse. Strong, calming, alive, real.

For a while they only stood like this and slowly Eli's heart calmed down, the tenseness falling off of him even as fatigue began to sink heavily onto his body. His eyes closed. He was close to falling asleep on his feet.

"Come on Eli. You should sleep," Young said quietly.

Eli shook his head weakly, didn't have the strength to open his eyes again. "No, not alone…" he mumbled dully, unwilling to give up on that illusion of peace.

"Stay here tonight. Tomorrow we will find a solution. But now you need to sleep, so let go." The hand above his own vanished, and instead he felt a light pressure against his chest. He gave in, stepping backwards till he met resistance.

Let himself fall, lose the contact, coil up. There was the contact again, warm, calming…

Eli drifted off and finally fell into a deep and steady sleep, Young's hand still at his neck and his own hand lying on Young's chest lightly, accompanied by the regular heartbeat.

So, wow, that's it for now. That was 'The lost star'.

A big thank you to my Master again for the beta. *lol*

I'm so proud of myself translating the whole thing. And honestly: it was fun. I'll do this again. I must, as I have more to write.

But right now I can't really tell you when this'll continue as I'm a sloooooooow writer... and Eli and Rush don't want to cooperate. Lets see who is more stubborn: me sitting in my warm flat surrounded by a collection of freshly baked christmas cookies... or them lying in a dark, dank, cold cave without food XD

*puts a bowl of cookies on the table* Help yourselves and leave a comment ;-)

ps: can someone tell me how to outwit ffnet? it killed my layout -.-


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